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Free Grammar
E-Book
Level 1

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Table of Contents
Present Simple: To Be 4

Possessives 6

Articles: A, An, The 7

This, That, These, Those 8

Present Simple 10

Can / Can't / Have to / Don't Have to 14

Prepositions: In, At, On 15

Past Simple: To Be 17

Past Simple: Regular Verbs 18

Past Simple: Irregular Verbs 20

There is / There are 22

Present Continuous 23

Present Simple or Continuous 26

Countable and Uncountable 27

Future with Going To 29

Comparative Adjectives 31

Superlative Adjectives 34

Adverbs 36

Present Perfect: Verb be38

Present Perfect: Other Verbs 40

Present Perfect or Past Simple 42

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Welcome!

Espresso English has fun, fast online English

lessons every week! The lessons include reading,
listening, vocabulary, grammar, and practice exercises. If
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This book teaches beginner-level grammar topics with

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Present Simple: Be
Positive:

I am Im from Japan.

you / we / they are youre / were / theyre from Brazil.

he / she / it is hes / shes / its from India.

Negative:

I am not Im not married.

you / we / they Youre not / You arent happy.

are not Were not / We arent
Theyre not / They arent

he / she / it He isnt / Hes not a student.

is not She isnt / Shes not
It isnt / Its not

Question:

Am I beautiful?

Are you / we / they a teacher?

Is he / she / it tall?

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Present Simple: Be
Name:

Im Joanna.
Hes Paulo.
Theyre Aki and Yuta.

Country / Nationality:

Im from the U.S. Im American.

My husband is from Italy. Hes Italian.
Shes not Korean, shes Vietnamese.
Are they from Australia?

Age:

Im 27 years old.
How old are you?
Shes 15.
My mother is 65 years old.

Emotions:

Im sad.
Shes excited.
Youre angry.
Were happy.

Jobs:

Im not a student. Im a teacher.

Are you a doctor?
Hes a journalist.
Theyre artists.

Grammar Exercise: Present Simple: Be

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Possessives
NOUN POSSESSIVE EXAMPLE
I my My name is Sandra.
you your Whats your name?
he his His name is John.
she her Her computer is fast.
it its My car is old, so its engine isnt powerful.
we our Our apartment is in the city center.
they their My parents sold their house.
Mary Marys Marys phone number is 555-4321.
Joe Joes Joes favorite color is green.
the boy the boys The boys clothes are dirty.
friends friends My friends names are Patrick and Gloria.
cat cats My cats name is Ginger.
country countrys My countrys flag is red, white, and blue.

Dont confuse its (possessive) with its (contraction for it is)!

The cat ate its food

The cat ate its food.
Its illegal for a 17-year-old to buy alcohol.
Its illegal for a 17-year-old to buy alcohol.

Grammar Exercise: Possessives

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Articles: A, An, The

Im going to eat an apple. Im going to eat the red apple.

a / an general I want to buy a car.

(one of
Hes eating an apple.
many)
Do you have a bike?

She is an old woman.

Im reading a book.

the specific Tokyo is the capital of Japan.

(one
The new Chinese restaurant is very good.
specific)
We like the blue car.

The girl in the red dress is beautiful.

Im reading the new book by J.K. Rowling.

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Articles: A, An, The

Use an if the word starts with the sound of a, e, i, o, u:

an apple

an egg

an ice cream shop

an open door

an umbrella

an hour

Use a if the word starts with the sound of any other letter.

Do not use the with countries or cities:

I live in the China.

I live in China.

Do not use the with things in general:

She likes the pizza.

She likes pizza.
She likes the pizza from Tonys Restaurant. (specific)

Grammar Exercise: A, An, The

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This, That, These, Those

This 1 thing near

That 1 thing far

These 2+ things near

Those 2+ things far

This apple is green. That apple is red.

These books are new. Those books are old.

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Present Simple: Positive

Use the present simple for things that happen regularly or things
that are generally true.

I / you / we / they work

he / she / it works

Examples:
I work in a bank.

He works at the university.

We work every day.

My sister works at the hospital.

Special Case #1

For verbs that end in consonant + y, we remove the y and

add ies:

I study English at school.

Dana studies English at school.
Bill studys English at school

Other verbs like this include: cry, try, fly, carry

Special Case #2

For verbs that end in -o, -sh, -s, -ss, -ch, -x, we add -es.

They go to English class on Wednesday.

She goes to cooking class on Saturday.
She gos to cooking class on Saturday.

Other verbs like this include: watch, kiss, teach, fix

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Present Simple: Negative

Use the present simple negative for things that are not generally
true.

I / you / we / they dont like

he / she / it doesn't like

Examples:

I don't like coffee.

John doesn't like pizza.
John and David don't like milk.
My mother doesn't like to travel.

Common Errors

1) In the present simple negative, do not add -s:

Martha doesn't likes to dance.

Martha doesn't like to dance.

2) Other common errors:

Pete no like bananas.

Pete not like bananas.
Pete doesnt like bananas.

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Present Simple: Questions

Use present simple questions to ask about things that happen
regularly or things that are generally true.

Do I / you / we / they live in a city?

Does he / she / it live in a city?

Examples:

Do you live in Brazil?

Does Adam live in England?

Do they live in a big house?

Does she live near the beach?

Common Errors

1) In questions, don't use -s:

Does she lives close to the beach?

Does she live close to the beach?

2) Dont forget DO or DOES:

Clara live in a big city?

Does Clara live in a big city?

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Present Simple: Answering

Yes/No Questions
Do you have a dog?
Yes, I do. / No, I don't

Do I look fat in these jeans?

No, you dont!

Does John speak Italian?

Yes, he does. / No, he doesn't.

Does she like rock music?

Yes, she does. / No, she doesnt.

Do we watch too much TV?

Yes, we do. / No, we dont.

Do they understand English?

Yes, they do. / No, they don't.

Grammar Exercises:

Present Simple Positive

Present Simple Negative
Present Simple Questions

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Can / Cant / Must / Mustnt

Have to / Dont have to
Can Its OK

Cant / Mustnt Its not OK

Have to / Must Its necessary / obligatory

Dont have to Its not necessary / obligatory

Doesnt have to (its optional)

(must / mustnt are more formal)

You can ride your bike here. You cant smoke here.
You mustnt smoke here.

FREE
FOOD!
You have to stop here. You dont have to pay

You must stop here. for the food.

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Prepositions: In, At, On

TIME PLACE
Cities and countries
Months
IN In January In Tokyo
In October In Japan

Seasons Rooms and buildings

In the summer In the kitchen
In the spring In the supermarket

Years Closed spaces

In 2004 In the car
In 1986 In a park

Periods of the day

In the morning
In the evening

(exception: at night)

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TIME PLACE
Dates and days Transportation
ON On Monday On the bus
th
On February 14 On a bike

(exception: in a car)

Surfaces
On the table
On the wall

TIME PLACE
Times Contexts / Events
AT At 6:00 At school
At half past three At work
At noon At a party

Grammar Exercise: Prepositions: In, On, At

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Past Simple: To Be
Positive:

I / he / she / it was born in 1982.

you / we / they were born in 1982.

Negative:

I / he / she / it was not (wasnt) born in Europe.

you / we / they were not (werent) born in Europe.

Questions:

Was I / he / she / it a famous artist?

Were you / we / they a famous artist?

Common words used to talk about the past:

Yesterday
Last Sunday / last week / last month /
last November / last year
1 hour ago / 5 days ago / 3 months ago / 10 years ago
When I was a child / When we were in college

Grammar Exercise: Past Simple: To Be

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Past Simple: Regular Verbs

Positive:

I / you / he / she / it / we / they worked yesterday

Negative:

I / you / he / she / it / we / they didnt work yesterday

Question:

Did I / you / he / she / it / work yesterday?

we / they

How to form the past simple for regular verbs:

Verb Past Spelling

listen listened Add -ed

play played

like liked Add -d

decide decided

stop stopped One vowel + one consonant =

double the final consonant and
add -ed

study studied One consonant + y

try tried -ied

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Past Simple: Regular Verbs

In past simple negative and questions, do not add -ed:

Mary didnt liked the movie.

Mary didnt like the movie.

Did you studied for the test?

Did you study for the test?

Examples:

I talked with my mother last night.

We enjoyed the party on Saturday.
She finished the test early.

He didnt listen to the teachers instructions.

They didnt want to join us for coffee.
Jill didnt stay in a hotel last summer.

Did you watch the news yesterday?

Did they remember to turn off the lights?
What time did your father arrive?

Grammar Exercise: Past Simple Regular Verbs

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Past Simple: Irregular Verbs

Infinitive Positive Negative

be was / were wasnt / werent

buy bought didnt buy

can could couldnt

eat ate didnt eat

get got didnt get

go went didnt go

have had didnt have

leave left didnt leave

make made didnt make

meet met didnt meet

say said didnt say

see saw didnt see

take took didnt take

think thought didnt think

understand understood didnt understand

wear wore didnt wear

write wrote didnt write

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Past Simple: Irregular Verbs

Examples:

Where were you last month?

I was in France.
What did your sister buy at the mall?
She bought new shoes.
What time did he eat breakfast today?
He ate breakfast at 6:00 AM.
When did you get married?
We got married in July.
Why did she go to London?
She went to London to study English.
Did you have any pets when you were a child?
Yes, I had a dog.
When did he leave the meeting?
He left the meeting an hour before it finished
What did you make for dinner?
I made some vegetable soup.
When did you meet your best friend?
I met my best friend 20 years ago.
What did the teacher say?
The teacher said that she loved our class.
Did you see Brad at the football game?
No, but we saw Peter and Henry.
What did he wear to the wedding?
He wore a suit.
Did he write a new book last year?
No, he only wrote a few magazine articles.

Grammar Exercise: Past Simple Irregular Verbs

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There is / There are

Singular Plural

(+) Theres a pillow on the sofa. There are two pillows on the bed.

(-) There isnt a mirror in the There arent any windows in the
bathroom. bedroom.

(?) Is there a table? Are there any chairs?

Yes, there is. / No, there isnt. Yes, there are. / No, there arent.

Theres a pillow on the sofa. There are two pillows on the bed.

Is there a table? Yes, there is. Are there any chairs?

No, there arent.

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Present Continuous: Positive

Present continuous is for things happening now, at the moment.

I am watching

you / we / they are watching

he / she / it is watching

Examples:

I am watching TV right now.

He is studying at the moment.
It is raining today.
We are thinking about you.
They are playing baseball.

Its very common to use contractions:

I'm watching TV right now.

He's studying at the moment.
It's raining today.
We're thinking about you.
They're playing baseball.

Some verbs are never used in the present continuous:

like, want, need, believe.

Im believing in God.
I believe in God.
Shes wanting a soda.
She wants a soda.

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Present Continuous: Negative

I am not listening
(Im not)

you / we / they are not listening

(arent)

he / she / it is not listening

(isnt)

Examples:

I am not working at the moment.

She is not wearing a hat today.

You are not listening to the teacher.

Pete and Jan are not watching TV.

There are two ways to use contractions:

Shes not wearing a hat today.

She isnt wearing a hat today.
Youre not listening to the teacher.
You arent listening to the teacher.

Both forms are OK!

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Present Continuous: Questions

Am I working?

Are you / we / they working?

Is he / she / it working?

Examples:

Are you writing a letter?

Is Pedro sleeping right now?
Are the children playing a game or reading a book?
Is the computer working?

You can put a question word at the beginning:

What are you doing?

Im writing an e-mail.
Where is Sarah going?
Shes going to the store.
Who are they talking to?
Theyre talking to the teacher.
Why is he running?
Because hes late for work.

Grammar Exercises:

Present Continuous Positive

Present Continuous Negative
Present Continuous Questions

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Present Simple or Continuous?

Present simple for things that happen in general or regularly.

Present continuous for things happening now, at the moment, or

current/temporary projects.

Present Simple Present Continuous

I work from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Im currently working on a new

every day. project.

Mark studies English every Mark is studying the present

Tuesday night. continuous this week.

We usually go to Europe in the Right now, were going to the

summer. supermarket.

They always talk to their boss in Its 9:00 AM. Theyre talking to
the morning. him now.

Does it usually rain in the winter? No, but its raining at the
moment. Take an umbrella.

Words that are often used with the present simple or continuous:

With present simple: always, usually, often, sometimes,

never, every (day/night/Monday/summer/year)
With present continuous: now, right now, at the moment,
currently, this week/month/year, today

Grammar Exercises: Present Simple or Present Continuous?

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Countable and Uncountable

Countable nouns are things we can count for example, cats:
My brother has a cat.
My sister has two cats.
My friend has three cats.

Other examples of countable nouns:

Things - book, table, computer, banana, shirt, television, house.
People - man, woman, child, friend, sister, uncle, teacher, boss.

Uncountable nouns are words that we cant count, or cant divide

into separate parts:

Liquids and some foods - water, butter, rice, flour, milk

Ideas and concepts - love, fun, work, money, peace, safety
Information - advice, information, news, knowledge
Categories - music, furniture, equipment, jewelry, meat

Countable Uncountable

dollar / dollars money

song / songs music

table / tables furniture

bottle / bottles wine, water

report / reports information

job / jobs work

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Countable and Uncountable

Dont add -s to make uncountable nouns plural:

I need some informations about the course.

I need some information about the course.

You can use other words to help quantify uncountable nouns:

She bought three bottles of wine and five boxes of rice.

He gave me two pieces of advice: eat less and exercise more.

Grammar Exercise: Countable and Uncountable Nouns

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Future with Going To

Use going to to talk about future plans and predictions.

Shes going to have a baby Its going to rain soon.

next month.

Positive:

Full Form Contracted Form

I am Im
You are Youre
going to take a test
He / she / it is Hes / Shes / Its
tomorrow.
We are Were
They are Theyre

In fast spoken English, going to often sounds like gonna:

Were gonna take a test tomorrow.

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Future with Going To

Negative:

Full Form Contracted Contracted

Form 1 Form 2

I am not Im not ---

You are not Youre not You arent
going to
He / she is not Hes / Shes not He / she isnt
take a test
It is not Its not It isnt
tomorrow.
We are not Were not We arent
They are not Theyre not They arent

Question:

Am I
Are you
going to take a test tomorrow?
Is he / she / it
Are we
Are they

Dont forget am/is/are!

I going to buy some new shoes next week.

Im going to buy some new shoes next week.
She not going to watch TV.
Shes not going to watch TV.
They going to get married in June.
Theyre going to get married in June.

Grammar Exercise: Future with Going to

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Comparative Adjectives
Use comparatives to compare two things:

Phil is older than Ben.

Ben is younger than Phil.

For One-Syllable Words

Add er

Tall Taller

Old Older

Fast Faster

Long Longer

New Newer

My new car is faster than my old car.

I'm older than my brother.
Traveling by bike takes longer than traveling by motorcycle.

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Comparative Adjectives

For Words that end in a vowel + consonant

Double the last consonant and add er

Big Bigger

Hot Hotter

Thin Thinner

An elephant is bigger than a cat.

Brazil is hotter than Sweden.
My sister is thinner than me.

For Words that end in consonant + y

Remove -y and add -ier.

Easy Easier

Happy Happier

Busy Busier

Reading English is easier than listening.

Maria is happier than Dave.
People today are busier than in the past.

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Comparative Adjectives

For Words with 3+ syllables

Add more before the adjective:

Expensive More expensive

Popular More popular

Interesting More interesting

A car is more expensive than a computer.

Michael Jackson's music is more popular than country music.
Watching a movie is more interesting than studying grammar.

Adjectives with Irregular Comparatives

Good Better

Bad Worse

Far Farther

Eating fruit is better for your health than eating hamburgers.

Cancer is worse than the flu.
One mile is farther than one kilometer.

Grammar Exercise: Comparative Adjectives

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Superlative Adjectives
Use superlatives to compare three or more things:

Jim is the oldest person in the family.

Kelly is the youngest person in the family.

Adjective Superlative

Old the oldest

Big the biggest

Easy the easiest

Friendly the friendliest

Beautiful the most beautiful

Expensive the most expensive

Good the best

Bad the worst

Far the farthest

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Superlative Adjectives
Examples:

My grandmother is the oldest person in my family.

Russia is the biggest country in the world.
This is the easiest test I've ever taken.
Barry is the friendliest guy in the class.
Donna is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.
The most expensive shoes in the world cost 1.5 million dollars.
I like all sports, but I like soccer the best.
Picking up garbage was the worst job I've ever had.
Australia is the farthest I've ever traveled.

Dont forget the!

I read newest lesson from Espresso English.

I read the newest lesson from Espresso English.

Superlatives are often used with the present perfect + ever:

This is the best sushi I've ever eaten.

What's the most expensive car you've ever driven?
The longest book I've ever read was 500 pages.
Jan is the friendliest person I've ever met.

Grammar Exercise: Superlative Adjectives

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Adverbs
Use adjectives to describe nouns (things or people).

Use adverbs to describe verbs (how a person does something):

That was a terrible game. (adjective describes game)

The team played terribly. (adverb describes played)

Common adverbs:
Adjective Adverb

slow slowly

quiet quietly

bad badly

beautiful beautifully

dangerous dangerously

careful carefully

easy easily

healthy healthily

good well

fast fast

hard hard

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Adverbs
Examples:
My grandfather drives slowly, but I drive fast.
The teacher spoke so quietly that I couldnt hear her.
I can read English well, but I speak badly.
Evan lives dangerously. He loves radical sports.
We wrote the letter carefully so as not to make a mistake.
I opened the jar easily.
Soccer players need to eat healthily to stay in good shape.
Janet works very hard. She arrives at work early and leaves late.

Adjectives go before the noun. Adverbs usually go after the verb:

Ruth is a quiet person. (quiet describes person)

Ruth speaks quietly. (quietly describes speaks)

Grammar Exercise: Adjective or Adverb?

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Present Perfect: Verb be

Use the present perfect in two situations:

1) To talk about experiences in the past, when we dont know

or dont say exactly when the experience happened.

Examples:

Have you been to Italy?

Yes, Ive been there three times.
Have you been to Rio de Janeiro?
No, I havent. I dont like hot weather.
Has Diana been to a rock concert?
Yes, many times!
Has your brother been to a big sports event?
No, he hasnt. He hates sports.

2) To talk about an action or state that started in the past

and continues to the present.

Examples:

How long have you been married?

Ive been married for five years.
How long has John been a teacher?
Hes been a teacher since last January.

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Present Perfect: Verb be

Positive

Full Form Short Form

I have Ive
You have Youve
been to Paris.
We have Weve
They have Theyve

He / she / it has Hes / shes / its been to Paris.

Negative

Full Form Short Form

I have not I havent

You have not You havent
been to Paris.
We have not We havent
They have not They havent

He / she / it has not He / she / it hasnt been to Paris.

Question

Auxiliary Verb Subject

Have I / you / we / they been to Paris?

Has he / she / it been to Paris?

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Present Perfect: Other Verbs

Regular verbs

Verb Past Participle Example

travel traveled Ive traveled to 15 countries in my life.

watch watched She hasnt watched the movie yet.
pass passed Weve passed our English test.
try tried Have you tried restarting the computer?
stop stopped Theyve recently stopped smoking.

Irregular verbs

Verb Past Past Participle

break broke broken

buy bought bought
do did done
eat ate eaten
get got gotten
give gave given
go went gone
know knew known
leave left left
make made made
meet met met
see saw seen
take took taken
tell told told
think thought thought
write wrote written

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Present Perfect: Other Verbs

Examples:

I cant find my car keys. Have you seen them?

No, I havent. Sorry.

Weve written more than 100 e-mails in the past week.

My cousin has met a lot of famous people in her life.

Have you ever broken a bone?

Yes, I have.

Has she ever eaten Vietnamese food?

No, she hasnt.

Have you ever thought about moving to another country?

Weve thought about it, but we havent told our kids.

The teacher hasnt given us any homework yet.

Camilo has made a lot of mistakes in his life.

Have you ever gotten lost while driving?

No, I havent but my mother has!

Kristin has never taken singing classes.

Grammar Exercise: Present Perfect

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Present Perfect or Past Simple

Use the present perfect to talk about a general experience in the
past. Use the past simple to talk about a specific moment in the past.

Have you seen the new Mission Impossible film?

Yes, I have.
When did you see it?
I saw it last week.

Use the present perfect for unspecified time:

Ive seen the new Mission Impossible film.

|-------------------?--------------|------------------------------------|
past present future

Use the past simple for specified time:

I saw the new Mission Impossible film last week.

|------------------------- |-------|------------------------------------|
past last week present future

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Present Perfect or Past Simple

Use the present perfect to talk about an action that started in the
past and continues to the present. Use the past simple to talk about
an action that started and finished in the past.

Use the present perfect for unfinished time:

Ive lived in Brazil for three years. (and I live in Brazil now)

|----------------|>>>>>>>>>>|------------------------------------|
past 3 years ago present future

Use the past simple for finished time:

I lived in Brazil for three years. (and I dont live in Brazil now)

|-------|>>>>>>>>>>|--------|-----------------------------------|
past period of 3 years present future

Grammar Exercise: Present Perfect or Past Simple?

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The End!
Thanks for reading

Did you like this grammar e-book?

Please e-mail me with any questions or comments!

Click here to get all the new English lessons by e-mail,

and please share this e-book with all your friends.

About the teacher

My name is Shayna. Im from the United

States, and I currently live in Brazil, where
I work as an English teacher and
translator. I have a CELTA certification to
teach English to adults, and I really enjoy
helping my students communicate better.

I am 27 years old and married, and in my free time I like

to read, write, play soccer, go hiking, and do capoeira. I
also love to travel and learn about different countries and
cultures please write to me and tell me where you are
from. I hope you enjoy Espresso English!

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